


Spirit Miraculous Origins, Part 2

by Blairdiggory



Series: Spirit Miraculous AU [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Paranatural (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, Isaac and Max get SUPERPOWERS NOW, part two is gonna be lit y'all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2018-12-19 01:49:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11887368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blairdiggory/pseuds/Blairdiggory
Summary: How did Isaac (Cloud Nine) and Max (Black Racer) become part of Mayview's superhero team?





	1. Choosing a New Hero

“Spinner and the Artist need a new partner,” said Francisco Guerra. Mr. Spender seemed startled by the news.  
“But why?” he asked. “They’re a great team!”  
“They’re getting sloppy,” Guerra said. “Did you see Spinner’s last fight? She was much too arrogant and got a nice bite because of it. If she’s going to wield a Miraculous, she has to do it with discipline.”  
“And the Artist, master? He’s getting sloppy too?”  
“I need the blue choker Miraculous,” Guerra said, ignoring Mr. Spender’s question. “We’ll give it to a new holder.”  
“And you called me here because you want me to help you choose the new holder?” Mr. Spender said, perking up. “I’m honored-“  
“No, I called you here because I gave you the Miraculouses to hide, and you’re the only one who know where they are!” growled Guerra.  
“…oh. Well, don’t worry, Master! They’re in a safe place!”  
“They’re in the school, aren’t they?”  
“…maybe.”  
Guerra groaned.  
“Just keep them safe. We don’t need to lose another one to evil,” he said. Mr. Spender nodded at this sage advice, but began to grin.  
“So, how are you going to pick the next holder?” he asked excitedly. “Because I have this idea-“  
“No.”  
“But if we gave it to Isaac O’Connor-“  
“Who?” Guerra asked.  
“The first person who was akumatized in Mayview, Master.”  
“And why would we give it to him?”  
“Because,” Mr. Spender said. “We need someone who has been akumatized! To study the effects of akumatization and see how it affects a Miraculous holder! We need to know if Miraculous holders can become akumatized!”  
Guerra seemed to consider this.  
“What makes him different than any other akuma victim?” he said.  
Mr. Spender’s smile faltered.  
“I mean… nothing, I suppose,” he said. Then he stuttered, trying to recover his argument, “But he’s nearly the same age as Isab-“  
“SPINNER,” Guerra hissed, trying to keep her secret identity safe in case of prying ears.  
“Sorry! He’s, uh, he’s nearly the same age as Spinner and the Artist. They need to work with someone their own age, right?” Mr. Spender ended weakly. Guerra sighed.  
“I shouldn’t have given the Miraculouses to tweens in the first place. If I had been able to fight this evil, I would have.”  
He squinted at Mr. Spender, considering his pupil’s idea.  
“If you can find evidence that proves him worthy of wielding a Miraculous, fine. Give it to him. But-“ he glared at Mr. Spender. “If I find out you let that Miraculous into the hands of evil, there will be consequences. Understand?”  
“Of course, Master! I would never let anything like that happen!”  
Not on purpose, thought Guerra, as Mr. Spender nearly ran out of the dojo in excitement. It would likely happen out of stupidity, naivete, and recklessness. Mr. Spender had a lot to learn, but he could only do so by confronting his faults. 

“Oof!” Isaac stumbled backwards as he rounded the corner and walked straight into a teacher.  
The teacher in question, who had blonde hair and sunglasses, dropped everything he was holding in the collision. A couple of notebooks, a history book, and a key on a lanyard were scattered on the floor now.  
“Oh, jeez, I’m sorry!” said Isaac, hurriedly picking up the teacher’s things and handing them back to him. The teacher shook his head.  
“I should have watched where I was going. Thanks, Isaac,” he said, patting the student on the back and continuing on his way.  
Isaac wondered how the teacher knew his name, but thought nothing on it as he walked into his next class.  
Mr. Spender let a small smile emerge as he slipped the key to the gym storage closet into his pocket. Accepting fault for his actions and helping in the aftermath was surely enough reason to prove Isaac’s worth. The Miraculous was now safely in Isaac’s backpack. Time to see what would happen.


	2. A Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter. The next one will be longer, I swear! (I hope)

A… choker?  
That’s what Isaac found in his backpack when he got home. And it wasn’t even a cool choker. It was grey and inconspicuous, with no patterns or designs to be found. But, thought Isaac, he could probably attach a pendant or something to it, make it look like something from an anime. He fit the choker around his neck to see if it fit him, and a blinding, smoking blue filled the room.  
Isaac coughed and frantically waved the smoke away. Not smoke, he realized, but fluffier. Clouds? When he got the majority of the swirly mess to dissipate, he found himself staring at a huge… thing.  
It was either a cat or a dog (or both?) with a head composed of storm clouds. It had swirly orange features, an orange belt of feathers, and was outfitted in dark gray and neon colors. And, unfortunately, it had a huge mass of sharp teeth. The thing crouched down, looking ready to eat him.  
“ISAAC CHILD BOY, the CONFINES of your room do not SUIT ME,” it said. Isaac realized the thing was not bending down in order to devour him, but because it was too big to fit in his room. The thing disappeared in a flash of light in front of him and emerged, small enough to stand up, but still incredibly large.  
“What are you?” asked Isaac, now in shocked awe. If the thing had wanted to eat him, it would have already. Plus it knew his name. Something else was afoot.  
“I am KING C,” said the thing. “I am a KWAMI. Creatures like me are DESTINED to bring JUSTICE to the world.”  
“So why are you here?” asked Isaac. “Are you a superhero like Spinner and the Artist?”  
“FOOL BOY! I CAN’T save the world. YOU must do it! I am here to give you POWER, which you will use to SMITE ENEMIES of GOOD!”  
“I… I’m going to be a superhero?” Isaac’s face lit up. After becoming the first akuma victim in Mayview, Isaac had become obsessed with superheroes of all sorts. And now he was supposed to be a magical boy? This was the BEST DAY OF HIS LIFE!  
“I GUESS. That is an ABSURD name.”  
“So how do I do it? What powers do I have?” asked Isaac excitedly.  
“You have the POWER of STORMS,” said King C. “You can create WEATHER of any kind, and when you say, ‘WEATHER ALERT!’, you will create a MORE POWERFUL storm to defeat your enemy. You will have NO CONTROL over what type of storm it is, but it will be DIVINELY CHOSEN to help you FIGHT.”  
“That is SO cool!” said Isaac. “When do I get my powers? What does my superhero costume look like? Do I have to make it? What’s my superhero name-“  
“You ask MANY QUESTIONS,” said King C. “Just say, ‘RAIN DOWN!’ to call on your powers, and ‘RAIN CLEAR!’ to return to your normal, PUNY self.”  
Isaac couldn’t help himself.  
“Rain down!” he called as soon as King C finished talking.  
King C disappeared again in a swirly mess. The clouds flew into Isaac’s choker, which turned a deep blue and sprung out an orange, claw-shaped pendant. The clouds consumed Isaac, and when they dissipated, he looked in the mirror to see an incredibly bizarre-looking superhero.  
“What the heck is this?” Isaac murmured, slightly disgusted by King C’s choice in outfit. A neon colored jumpsuit with a tail-like sash and a storm cloud mask. His hair spiked upwards, like lightning. It was a terrible costume.  
BUT, at least he got superpowers with it. Isaac was on cloud nine (Cloud Nine? Good name for a superhero, thought Isaac, let’s go with that.).  
The newly dubbed Cloud Nine practiced being a hero in front of the mirror, making poses and coming up with puns and catchphrases to use in his first fight. When would his first fight be? He was SO pumped to kick some bad guy butt.  
Isaac heard his phone go off. He looked at the notification and was surprised to read the headline: “OH DEER! DEER PRINCESS ON THE RAMPAGE!” The article came with a picture of an obviously akumatized supervillain, who did indeed look like a deer princess, hurling what looked like small deer minions at Spinner and the Artist.  
Isaac blanched, but puffed up his chest. Maybe his first fight was a little soon, but he could do it!  
“Alright, King C, let’s do this!” he said, as he awkwardly climbed out his window and bounded down the street towards Mayview Middle School.


	3. The Fight Against the Queen of Kindness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slow update! Work's been busy. Also, I love writing fight sequences.

[Earlier that day]  
“Isabel! Ed!” yelled their grandfather.  
The two of them, in the middle of a training fight, looked up.   
“Yes?” asked Isabel, who currently had Ed in a headlock. Ed was scrambling to undo her arms from around his head and failing miserably.  
Grandpa waved them over to where he was sitting. The rest of his students had retired for an early night, leaving only Isabel and Ed to practice sparring.  
Once they were close enough, Grandpa finally spoke.  
“You’re getting a new partner.”  
“Like, for sparring?” asked Ed. “Because I could use a hand or two to teach me how to headlock Iz-“  
“No,” Grandpa grunted. He lowered his voice, making sure only the three of them could hear him. “A new crime-fighting partner.”  
“What?!” squawked Isabel.  
“Lower your-“  
“We don’t NEED one!” she said heatedly, though she did quiet her voice. “Ed and I are a great team-“  
“But you could be a better one,” said Grandpa, glaring at her. “Especially after that last fight.”   
“Is that what this is about?” hissed Isabel. “I’ll watch out next time! It was an unfair move-“  
“One that could easily happen again. You two are too comfortable with each other. Things will continue to slip unless we get some new blood in your group.”  
“But-!”  
“Don’t use that tone with me, young lady,” said Grandpa. “My decision is final. The new Miraculous has already been delivered.”   
Isabel’s mouth opened and closed furiously, forming words to a silent argument, then she stormed off, leaving Ed to trail awkwardly behind her. She threw open the door to her room, and Ed flinched as it crunched again the wall.   
“You know, you could have at least defended us back there!” Isabel said, whirling on Ed.   
“I… I’m sorry-“  
“Do you WANT us to be split apart?”  
Ed stayed quiet. Isabel sighed.   
“I can’t believe Mr. Aves – Spender- whatever. I can’t believe he went along with it. Heck, he probably ENCOURAGED it!”  
Isabel flopped down on her bed, face down in her pillow. She groaned.  
“And it’s all my fault.”  
“It ISN’T your fault,” Ed insisted.   
“Grandpa has it out for me, and you know it.”  
“I think he just worries.”  
“That’s probably just wishful thinking.”  
“Yeah,” said Ed. He paused. “Do you really think this will split us up?”  
“Of course not!” said Isabel, raising her face to be able to see her best friend. “NOTHING will split us up. Not even a new hero.”  
“So, I guess we just have to, like, watch things play out then, huh?” Ed said.   
“I guess,” said Isabel. “But this new kid better be worth it.”  
“I hope so.” 

[Currently]  
That was the situation Spinner and the Artist found themselves in during their next akuma fight. They couldn’t quite figure out who or what on earth this deer princess thing was, but from what they could deduce, she had turned into a video game character.   
“I am the Queen of Kindness, and with the Seven Scepters of Salutation, I shall level this town to the ground!” the villain laughed.   
The seven scepters in question circled her as she floated through the air, shooting lasers at bystanders and turning them into tiny deer minions. The minions then flew towards Spinner and the Artist, biting them and keeping them from getting clean shots at their queen.   
In one hand, Spinner was using the book as a shield from the lasers. Since they only seemed to turn people to deer minions, the book took the blows before they could reach the superheroine herself. With her other hand, she was forcing streams of paper to pop minions in the face, which either forced them back or sent them careening towards the ground.   
The Artist found himself doing something similar. He had painted a large shield to block the minions while he used his paintbrush to deflect the lasers. It was nearly impossible for either of them to get at the villain.   
The duo slowly inched forward, but as they did, it became increasingly difficult to block the scepter’s lasers, which they had less time to dodge.   
“Any ideas on tackling this?” asked Spinner.   
“Not any GOOD ideas,” said the Artist.  
“Well, we need to do something quick-“  
Right then, another figure bounded into view.  
“Aw, jeez, not another akuma,” said Spinner, getting ready to fire another round of paper at the new figure.  
The figure, however, ran behind them and slammed a massive gust of wind into the deer minions, who were blown yards away, giving the heroes time to regroup.   
“Hey! Spinner! The Artist!” said the new hero, giving them a big grin. “I’m Cloud Nine! I’m your-“  
“New partner?” Spinner tried to hide her despair. She was kind of hoping her grandfather wouldn’t actually go through with the threat of a new member, yet here they were.   
“What’s up with the costume, dude?” asked the Artist.   
“I didn’t have any choice in it,” said Cloud Nine.  
“I would have been concerned if you did.”  
“Focus, guys!” said Spinner. The group circled up, back to back, as they prepared for the next line of fire. The Queen of Kindness was furious.   
“ANOTHER one?” she said with disdain. “No matter. I will destroy you and take your Miraculous too!”  
“So much for kindness,” muttered the Artist.   
The minions began to return to the fight, and the scepters turned their lasers on the group. The three began combatting the two fronts of attack. Cloud Nine summoned a small storm cloud and used it to shoot lightning at the lasers, which erupted into small bursts of light upon colliding. He seen enough of the fight to realize that the deer minions were human and combatted them by blasting them away with spurts of wind.   
“Any chance you could summon enough lightning to reach the Queen of Mean up there?” asked Spinner, spattering another laser on her book.   
Cloud Nine attempted to do this, but discovered disappointedly that his range was only about ten feet in any direction.   
“That’s a no go,” he said.   
“What’s your special power?” asked Spinner.  
“Uh, I can create weather? You just saw me-“  
“No, your bigger power. The one with a catchphrase!”  
“Oh, right!” said Cloud Nine. “Weather Alert!”  
The clouds in the sky shifted, suddenly growing darker and thicker. A gentle breeze became a full blown gust, and suddenly, the clouds began to snake in a swirly manner down from the sky.   
“Why the heck did you summon a tornado?!” asked Spinner angrily. “Paper Cut!”  
Three sets of heavily armored paper boots shot from her book and anchored the three of them to the ground.   
“I can’t control what type of weather gets created by that ability! It’s the only kind I can create on a large scale!” Cloud Nine yelled back, trying to be heard among the rising winds. “And look!”  
The winds were getting stronger, and the deer minions were too light to withstand it. They were being swept towards the tornado. Even Queen of Kindness was having trouble staying aloft. Her lasers were being blown off course, hitting the street beside Spinner, the Artist, and Cloud Nine.  
“We don’t have to fight any projectiles anymore!” said Cloud Nine.   
“But now we can’t move either!” spat Spinner.  
“Hey, I wasn’t the one who gave us these boots!”  
“Guys, I have an idea!” yelled the Artist. He drew a giant ball in the air, which proceeded to fall and embed itself in the ground with a THUNK.   
“What is that?” asked Cloud Nine.  
“You’ll see,” grinned the Artist maniacally. “The akuma is in the Queen’s crown, right?”  
“Yeah,” said Spinner. “But you can’t even throw that thing-“  
“I don’t plan to!” said the Artist. He began painting something quickly.   
“Optical Illusion!” he yelled, as he rolled the ball into the cannon he had created. “Cloud Nine, could you light this fuse for me?”  
“Of course,” the other hero grinned, as he sent a bolt of lightning to strike the fuse.   
“You cannot defeat me!” screamed the Queen of Kindness. She gave up shooting at the heroes and flew towards them as fast as she could against the wind, sharp hooves poised to gouge their faces.  
“Good thing the wind is at our backs!” said the Artist as the cannon fired.   
The Queen of Kindness was too close to swerve as the cannonball came directly at her, grazing the top of her head and knocking the crown clean off.   
“No!” she yelled, diving for her accessory, but the crown hit the ground and shattered. The Queen of Kindness sunk to the street and fell to her knees. A burst of purple changed her back to her normal self.   
Spinner sucked the paper boots back into her book and ran forward to catch the akuma that had appeared from the broken crown. She snapped the book over the creature. When she released it, the butterfly was stark white. Her book began to overflow with paper, and the pages whooshed around Mayview, healing the damage all around the city and clearing up the sky. The wind died down, and Cloud Nine’s choker dinged as the second swirl on his claw necklace disappeared. Similarly, Spinner’s comb and the Artist’s anklet beeped a few moments later.   
“It looks like we only have three minutes before we change back,” said Spinner. She and the Artist poised to leave.  
“Wait!” said Cloud Nine, excitedly. “Shouldn’t we, like, exchange contact info or something? My phone’s probably around here somewhere, we can-“  
Spinner and the Artist exchanged a glance.   
“We don’t really share secret identity information,” said the Artist. “It’s just a thing. Me and Spinner didn’t at first.”  
“You know who the other is in real life?” asked Cloud Nine, awed.  
“Yeah, but it was kind of an accident-“ started the Artist.  
“It doesn’t matter,” Spinner interrupted. “We just can’t risk Hawkmoth knowing everything if he gets one of us. No hard feelings. And…”  
Now she looked kind of sheepish.   
“I’m sorry about being kind of cold earlier. It’s just, we weren’t expecting to get a new partner, and it kind of threw us off. Hope to see you next time though! You’re pretty good in a fight!” she said.  
Cloud Nine was internally screaming at the compliment, but simply smiled on the outside.   
“I get it. Thanks guys!”  
His Miraculous beeped again.   
“I guess this is goodbye for now?” he said.   
“Defintely!” said the Artist.   
“See you around!” said Spinner, and the two of them bounded off in the same direction.   
Cloud Nine shot off towards his house, trying to contain his smile. This was the best day of his life.


	4. The New Kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max arrives in Mayview, only to be attacked! Suzy explains things horribly.

Today was probably the worst day of Maxwell Puckett’s life. Not only was he being forced to attend a completely new school in a completely new town, it figured the first kids he’d meet would be the school bullies.   
To be fair, he hadn’t technically MET them. He had fallen down a hill and planted his scooter in the face of the gang’s ringleader. It was an honest mistake. Johnny, the ringleader, however, wanted Max to pay for it.   
“I’ll let you off with an apology,” he said. “…and fifty cents. Whenever you’re ready.”  
“Fine,” Max sighed. “I’m so-“  
Max stopped cold. A giant octopus, easily a story tall with arms stretching out twice that length, was flying directly at him. Johnny’s gang had their backs to the monstrosity and had yet to catch sight of it.   
“Oh, jeez! What is that thing?” he gasped. He made to step back and tripped over his scooter.  
“I’m not falling for that,” said Johnny. “Gimme a break-“  
Thankfully, Johnny’s buddies had turned to see what the new kid was so shaken about and jumped straight into action.   
“Akuma attack!” yelled Ollie. RJ and Stephen grabbed Johnny’s arms as he made to look back and shoved him forward. Ollie acted as a barrier as they ran, trampling over Max as he attempted to get up from his fall earlier.   
Max was barely back on his feet when a huge tentacle came barreling towards him. He was moving too slowly. He was going to be pulverized by the beast, and while it would be a good way to go out, Max did NOT want to go out just yet.   
A black blur slammed into him. Max hadn’t even seen it coming. Not only did it knock him out of harm’s way, but Max felt whatever it was wrap around his arm and drag him backwards through the air. The giant tentacle slammed into where Max had been not a second before, but now, he was nearly ten feet away. The black thing dragged the new kid through the air and set him down a safe distance away.   
“Jeez, watch out, kid,” said the black thing, which Max could now tell was a boy in an oddly-colored jumpsuit.   
Max would have made a snarky remark about the boy being the same age as him, but he was too terrified.   
“What the actual flip is that thing?” sputtered Max. “What’s going on? Who are you?”  
“You must be new, but, uh, I don’t really have time to answer those questions since we’re in mortal peril-“  
“MORTAL PERIL?!”  
“But I’m sure you can find somebody who-“  
“I have the solution right here,” said another voice.   
A girl with origami armor surfed in on a wave of… paper? She was carrying another girl, this one in regular, very pink clothes, by the scruff of her shirt. The girl being carried was waving a phone around.  
“Oh, my God, guys, this is the best day of my life!” squealed the girl in pink, speaking into her phone. “Spinner! Can I get an interview?” The SpiderBlog followers have been DYING to know-“  
“Can’t you see we’re a little busy?” asked the other girl.   
“We have some time! No one’s gotten hurt-“  
A crash, followed by police sirens, sounded nearby. The girl Spinner sighed.   
“Let’s keep the casualties at zero, ok?” she said, setting the girl in pink down. “We can talk later. Maybe.”  
“Really?”  
“Look, just tell the newbie what’s going on so he doesn’t get killed. And don’t you DARE go back into that fight!” she said with a glare. The girl in pink smiled innocently.   
“Of course.”  
“Good,” said Spinner. She didn’t look like she believed the girl, but there was another crash, and she leapt back towards the giant octopus.  
“Stay safe,” said the boy in the jumpsuit with a glance. Then, he flew away on a gust of wind.   
The girl in pink flipped her camera to selfie mode and began to chatter, as if to an audience.  
“What a phenomenal fight! Can you believe I came THIS CLOSE to Spinner? I’ll get an interview with her one day, and maybe then I’ll find out her secret identity! And the identities of the others too, of course, but come on, Spinner is probably the best of the three-“  
“Aren’t you supposed to tell me what’s going on?” asked Max.   
The girl frowned at the interruption, but brightened when she saw Max.   
“Hey! You’re the new kid, Maxwell Puckett, right?” she said.   
“Uh, just Max-“  
“Great, Just Max! I’m Suzy, and I run the SpiderBlog, the school blog that documents Mayview’s superheroes-“  
“Excuse me? Superheroes?” Max asked.   
“Wow, you must be WAY out of the loop,” laughed Suzy. “Let me give you, and any new followers-“ she gestured to the camera on her phone “-a run down.”  
“Um, ok.”  
“Mayview is plagued by an unknown evil,” Suzy began. “Whoever they are, they can create these things called ‘akumas’. They look like black butterflies-“  
“Butterflies?”  
“Yeah, butterflies. Just go with it. Anyway, these akumas give people powers, but they’re EVIL powers, and they turn a person EVIL. So, the superheroes Spinner, Cloud Nine, and the Artist – you didn’t see him – fight the akumatized villains! They each have a piece of jewelry called a Miraculous that gives them their powers. Spinner’s comb gives her paper powers, Cloud Nine’s choker gives him weather powers, and the Artist’s anklet gives him paint powers. The evil wants to capture these Miraculouses and-“  
Suzy paused.   
“I actually have no idea why the evil wants the Miraculouses. I just know that whoever is behind this is bad news. And they’ll be stopped by our superheroes! …Eventually!”  
“How long has this been going on?” asked Max. “And why haven’t I heard about it?”  
“About two years,” said Suzy. “And frankly, what happens in Mayview stay in Mayview. The evil hasn’t gone outside of our town, so why bother freaking everyone out?”   
“I’m certainly freaked out.”  
“Oh, don’t worry,” Suzy smiled, shaking her head at Max’s naivete. “You get used to it.”  
“So, we just wait for these superheroes to find the evil before it’s too late?”  
“Well, when you put it that way…”  
Max was not a fan of running away if he could help it. Better to face problems head on. But this was something else entirely.   
Suddenly, a sea of paper crashed through the tunnel as if the tide was being swept in. Max yelled, but Suzy didn’t seem concerned in the slightest as she adjusted her camera to take a video of the onslaught. The paper streamed past them, and Max only felt a light tickling sensation. When it passed, he opened his eyes to find his scooter, completely unscathed, in front of him.   
“I thought this got destroyed by the octopus!” said Max incredulously.   
“It probably did,” said Suzy. “Spinner has a power that undoes all the harm that an akuma does. Oh man!”  
She turned the camera towards her again.   
“That means she’s probably used her special power! She has five minutes until she transforms back to her civilian self! I have to go-“  
In the distance, a school bell rang. Suzy froze. She seemed to be tossing around the idea of going after Spinner instead of going to school, but quickly slumped her shoulders in defeat.   
“I might get kicked off the blog if I get any more tardies. Come on, I’ll show you the way to school. Who’s your first period teacher?”  
“I have literally no idea.”  
“That’s ok! I snagged your schedule! It looks like you have Mr. Garcia!”  
The two of them ran to Mayview Middle School. Suzy dropped Max off at Mr. Garcia’s classroom just as the second bell rang. Another boy entered just after them.  
“Sorry, Mr. Garcia, I-“ said the boy.  
Mr. Garcia waved him off.   
“Another bus got caught in the akuma attack, Ed. You’re fine. Just sit down.”  
As Suzy walked to her class, she bumped into a girl.  
“Oh, hey, Suzy!” said Isabel. “Listen, someone told me-“  
“I have to go,” Suzy grunted, continuing to move ahead. “Can’t be late again!”  
Isabel paused, then continued on her way, shaking her head. She had been trying to pretend that Spinner had given her a message to deliver to Suzy about an interview. She’d have to try again another time.   
Isaac entered his class later, but nobody really noticed. Anonymity was ok as a superhero.


	5. The Fight Against Papergirl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The end of the Spirit Miraculous Origins! It was really fun to write, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!  
> Special thanks to monstrblood for letting me name Suzy's akumatized villain after her story Papergirl (http://archiveofourown.org/works/12124767/chapters/27499170)! It's super good, and you all need to read it, imo!

Though it had been crazy, the school day was finally over. Why was Mayview Middle School so weird? Why was Mayview so weird? Why did it have SUPERHEROES? Max was going to get to the bottom of this.   
Someone else also wanted to get to the bottom of this, too.   
Suzy was near tears. Her recent tardy had gotten her suspended from the school paper. It wasn’t HER fault that there had been an akuma attack that morning. It wasn’t HER fault that she HAD to get the story. It wasn’t fair! The teachers didn’t understand. It wasn’t her fault…  
She clutched a copy of “The Newzy with Suzy” in her tense fist. Something hit it.  
“Papergirl.” Suzy heard a voice in her ear. No! It couldn’t be…  
“You have been given the chance to get the story of a lifetime.”  
She couldn’t fight the emotions overwhelming her. She couldn’t stop from giving in.  
“Are you prepared to do what it takes to get your scoop? All I ask for in return are some items I need…”  
“I’ve been prepared,” said Suzy. Her vision was taken over, and her body transformed. 

Max meant to get to his locker before leaving for home as his scooter was still in it, but he must have taken a wrong turn. The locker numbers weren’t familiar. There was a gym storage closet to his left that he hadn’t seen earlier.   
Great, thought Max. Lost again. At least Suzy had given him a map earlier. Maybe that would help.  
He heard an explosion, then a maniacal laugh.   
“I am Papergirl!” said a voice. Max swore he’d heard that voice earlier.  
Another explosion, this time closer.   
“I am here to get my interview, Spinner!” crooned the voice. “Where are you, Spider-Girl?”  
The next explosion wracked the building down the next hallway, blowing debris directly into Max’s path. Welp, time to run the other way.   
As he made to run, he turned and nearly plowed into another person. The other person, a girl covered in white armor, stopped just in time and grabbed Max by the shoulders.   
“Finally!” she said. “Someone who runs away from danger! Get out of the school-“  
An explosion broke the window at the corner of the hallway. The girl in armor chewed her lip.   
“Not enough time for you to get out…” she mumbled. “You’ll have to hide!”  
Looking to her left, the girl saw the gym storage closet. She yanked Max towards it, pulled open the door, and threw him in.  
“Hey, I think I remember you from earlier,” she said. “Sorry that you got caught in two akuma attacks in the same day! Be safe!”  
The girl, who Max now recognized as Spinner, the superheroine from earlier, slammed the door shut. Max heard her run towards the end of the hallway where the explosions were coming from. He didn’t make a sound. It was too dangerous.   
“Spinner! It’s great that you showed up!” said the other voice, Papergirl. “Now, I can finally get the interview I’ve wanted. First question: who are you in real life? Second question: Give me your Miraculous!”  
“That’s not a question!” said Spinner. “That’s a command! Pay attention in Mr. Starchman’s class, Suzy!”  
Suzy! That’s why the voice sounded familiar! But what had happened to her?  
“My name isn’t Suzy! It’s Papergirl!” cried the villain angrily. “And I am-“  
“Akumatized!” said another voice. “Snap out of it!”  
“Ah, the Artist! Glad you could drop in! Now, I can get your Miraculous as well!”  
“Not a chance!” said the Artist.   
“I bet you want my Miraculous as well?” asked another voice. Max presumed this was the hero who had saved him earlier.   
“Why would I want YOUR Miraculous?” said Papergirl.  
“What? What’s so bad about my Miraculous? My Miraculous is awesome! What’s your problem?!”  
“It was a joke.”  
“Oh.”  
“I’m glad I have you all in one place. This will make things so much easier. Lockers! Come to life!”  
Max heard three distinct yells, combined with the crunching of metal. That didn’t sound good.   
“Well, that was a LOT easier than I expected,” said Papergirl. “I guess it’s time to find out who you are once and for all!”  
“You won’t get away with this!” hissed Spinner, but something in her voice betrayed her fear.   
“But I already have!” said Papergirl. “You can kiss Mayview goodbye!”  
Max unfroze. If the superheroes were down, if Mayview was compromised… he couldn’t let that happen. Not to his dad. Not to Zoey. He had to do something.   
Max looked around, trying to find a weapon. Even if the door to the closet wasn’t locked, he’d be useless in an ambush if he didn’t have anything to attack with. His eyes locked onto something shiny on one of the shelves. Shiny things were always a good sign in video games. They probably were in real life too. He picked it up to reveal… a bracelet.  
Of course video game logic doesn’t work in real life! He berated himself. Stupid! But something drew him to the object. He picked up the bracelet, and a bright light flashed in front of his eyes. A crunching sound shuddered through the closet as a massive creature engulfed the room.  
“What was that?” said Papergirl, outside. Her voice was muffled by the fact that Max was now pressed against the wall, stuck in place by something giant.  
There was another explosion, thought Max. I’m dead. And that thing in front of me is a demon.   
The thing in front of him that was probably a demon unfurled its head from its long, snake-like body. It blinked its eyes, six red and six blue. It opened its gaping maw, full of innumerable razor-sharp teeth, and screeched bloody murder.   
“Aren’t you doing that?” asked one of the heroes from outside.   
“No, I’m not!” said Papergirl. She sounded frightened now.  
Max pulled his arm out from underneath the snake creature and gazed at the bracelet he had curled in his fist. It had a note attached to it.   
“Kwami: Scrapdragon   
Transformation phrase: ‘Magnet, attract!’  
Detransformation phrase: ‘Magnet, repel!’  
Special attack: ‘EMP!’ (creates an electromagnetic pulse)”  
“Stay right where you are!” hissed Papergirl. “I’m gonna figure out what you guys did! And when I get back, you will pay!”  
Oh God, she was coming this way. He had to think fast. He could sick the demon on her, but it was flailing around and didn’t seem like it wanted to listen to Max. Transformation phrase? What did that mean?  
“Magnet, attract!” Max said, hoping that might make the demon do something.   
The bracelet attached itself to his arm, and the demon stopped flailing. Its body trembled and sparked as it shrunk and zoomed into the bracelet. Max tried to take the bracelet off, but it stuck tight. Max’s own body flashed as his clothing transformed. His jeans turned to shredded, black leather, and chains hooked themselves around his belt. He donned a black leather jacket with a hood, his sneakers turned to boots, and a baseball bat hooked to his side. He felt a mask cover his face, and a sash wrapped itself around his waist.   
Max barely had time to think “What the heck?!” before he heard footsteps coming closer. They stopped outside the door.   
“I’m not falling for your sneak attack!” Papergirl yelled back to the heroes around the corner. “I mean, how obvious do you have to get! I bet someone’s gonna jump out at me right-“  
Max launched himself at the door, swinging his bat down. He destroyed the door, landed in front of Papergirl, and swung at her.  
“Shield!” Papergirl yelped. The newspaper page in her hand hardened, and she raised it up to meet Max’s swing.   
Max hit the paper, which had solidified into a shield, and the blow sent Papergirl back a couple of feet. While she was stunned, Max ran towards the other heroes, knowing he would clearly be outmatched against Papergirl in a battle of superpowers.   
Max slid around the corner to find the trio of superheroes trapped. Three lockers stood apart from the rest in the middle of the hallway. The others appeared to be stuck inside them and were attempting to kick and punch their way out, by the sounds of the clangs coming from the inside. Max ran over with a plan to destroy the locks on the metal lockers, but as he swung the bat back, the lockers suddenly crashed open. Spinner, the Artist, and Cloud Nine tumbled out as Papergirl rounded the corner.   
“No!” she cried. She turned and glared at Max. “You’ll pay for-“  
Spinner shot a wad of paper at Papergirl, who got hit in the gut. As she doubled over, she yanked a sheet out of the newspaper she was holding.   
“Bomb!” she yelled. The sheet changed into the image of a bomb. The three heroes near the lockers scattered, and the sheet exploded near the lockers, which toppled over.   
“Whip!” yelled Papergirl as she yanked another sheet of newspaper out of her stack. She threw herself underneath Spinner, who had lunged at her, wrapped the newspaper around her ankle, and yanked. Spinner fell to the ground hard, but the Artist and Cloud Nine were right behind her.   
“Get them!” Papergirl yelled to the lockers she had used to trap the heroes earlier, but they were flipping around, unable to stand up on the floor again. Papergirl groaned and pulled another newspaper sheet out, flipping it towards another set of lockers. “Lockers! Come to life!”  
The sheet hit four of the lockers nearest to Max, which shook themselves free of the wall and floor, leaving gaping holes behind them. One opened its door and attempted to trap Max, but Max swung his bat at it. The bat didn’t make contact with it, but the locker flew out of the way and rammed into the set of lockers by Cloud Nine.   
“Hey, watch out!” growled Cloud Nine.   
“I didn’t even hit it!” said Max.   
“So, you have magnet powers then?”  
“I guess?”  
“Well, don’t just stand there! Do something!”  
Cloud Nine summoned a raincloud and tried to get it closer to Papergirl’s newspaper. Papergirl took hold of the newspaper whip, still attached to Spinner, and slammed the heroine straight through the cloud. The cloud burst into fog, and under the cover, the Artist was able to paint a scythe to the end of his paintbrush and hack the whip off Spinner’s leg. Spinner’s armor was now sopping wet, but she stood up, brushing the water out of her eyes, just in time to see another locker come flying straight at her.   
Spinner formed a paper fist on her arm and prepared to punch the locker away, when it suddenly changed course in the air and zoomed straight for Max. He got out of the way just in time as the locker soared through the window behind him, sprinkling shards of glass everywhere.   
“Thanks for the save,” said Spinner, but she tackled Max to the ground. “Now, who are you? Another akuma victim?”  
“You mean the butterfly thing?” asked Max, pinned to the ground. “No, no, see, I got this bracelet, and then there was this giant scrap dragon thing, and now I have magnet powers.”  
Spinner blinked. She stepped off Max warily, never losing eye contact with him.   
“If you’re lying about having a Miraculous, you’re in for it, got it?” she said.   
Max nodded.   
“Good, now, let’s go fix this,” she said. She pulled Max up from the ground, and they ran into battle.   
A bomb grazed the ground next to Max, and the two jumped forward as the floor there crumbled away. Cloud Nine was gaining ground on Papergirl, but the Artist was fending off two lockers as they began to corner him.   
“Can you get those lockers away from the Artist and in front of me? I have an idea!” said Spinner.   
Max nodded. He tried to redo the motions he had done when he had caused the lockers to open. He aimed his bat and felt a tug as if he had hooked something while fishing. He swung the bat backwards towards him and Spinner, who leapt high into the air over the two lockers as they barreled towards them. A ream of paper shot out from her book, circling and snaring the two lockers. She tugged them to a stop, then yanked the paper the other way, causing the lockers to spin and fall out of the broken window.   
Papergirl roared as Spinner, the Artist, and Max now charged toward her. She tore a sheet of newspaper, threw it at the floor, and yelled, “Ice!”   
The floor suddenly frosted over with a thick sheet of ice. The three heroes tried to stop, but ended up sliding past Papergirl and Cloud Nine, who was doing his best to stop her from grabbing more sheets of newspaper, but was failing. Papergirl kicked Cloud Nine down the ice, sending him on a trajectory for the area where the floor had crumbled earlier.   
Max managed to stop himself by focusing on the lockers still around them and attracting his bat to them. He slammed into the wall too far from Cloud Nine. The Artist slid past him and crashed into the wall, looking dazed. Only Spinner managed to get a hold on Cloud Nine before he fell, but she grabbed him with both hands, allowing her book to fall and slide away. It was too far for her to reach it.   
Papergirl grinned at the turn of events. “Ice skates,” she said, tearing her newspaper and touching it to her shoes. They absorbed the paper and turned into ice skates. She raced towards Spinner, coming to a stop right next to her.   
“Bomb!” she said and hurled a bomb right above where the Artist still lay, struggling to get to his feet.   
“Paper Cut!” yelled Spinner. She shot a ream of paper at the ceiling by the Artist as the bomb exploded. The paper caught most of the debris and kept the ceiling from crushing the Artist, who seemed to finally be getting his wits about him.   
“Get rid of the ice!” said Spinner to no one in particular.  
Cloud Nine let go of one of her hands and pointed at the sky.   
“Weather Alert!” he cried, hoping the sun would come streaming through and melt the ice. Instead, the sky darkened, and lightning split the sky.   
Max couldn’t get across the ice. The Artist was still recovering. Papergirl pinched Spinner’s cheek as she held on to Cloud Nine, unable to pull him up because she was slipping on the ice.   
“I guess we will find out who you are after all,” Papergirl said. She reached up, grabbed the end of Spinner’s mask, and tugged hard.   
“Ow!” said Spinner. Her mask hadn‘t been removed, but it had stuck to her face, and yanked on it had been like yanking on her skin.   
“What the heck?” said Papergirl, tugging the mask this way and that. “Why won’t it come off?!”  
“Magic, probably,” said Spinner. She looked at Cloud Nine, who looked up at her. He seemed to understand. They needed to keep the Miraculous safe more than they needed to keep themselves safe.   
Just as Spinner planned on dropping her partner, the Artist yelled, “Optical illusion!”  
Though it was dark outside, the inside of the school lit up as an ink sun warmed the hallway. Max, now able to move, came splashing towards Papergirl. She made to quickly grab Spinner’s Miraculous, but Spinner, who now had her footing, yanked Cloud Nine up and slammed him into Papergirl. Papergirl stumbled on her ice skates and plowed headfirst into Max. Her newspaper flew halfway across the hallway. Papergirl looked at Max, who looked back at her, and the two began sprinting towards the newspaper.   
She was going to get there first, Max knew. She was lighter than he was, and therefore faster. He had one last shot.   
“EMP!” he yelled. He had no idea what the power did, but he figured it worked like the others’ special powers.   
An electromagnetic pulse rocked the hallway. A bolt of lightning from Cloud Nine’s lightning storm cracked through the broken window. The two collided, magnifying the power of the bolt, which shot towards Papergirl’s newspaper and hit it before she could get there. The newspaper disintegrated.   
“No!” cried Papergirl. “You’ll pay for this!”  
But the damage was already done. The akuma fluttered out of the newspaper, and Spinner caught it in her book. It popped out pure white, and reams of paper overflowed from the book to clean up the mess that had been made in the school. A cloud of purple enveloped Suzy, and her clothes and demeanor returned to normal. She looked up and around at the spotlessness of the school. She saw Spinner, the Artist, Cloud Nine, and a new hero panting and congratulating each other.   
“Oh my, God, I am SO sorry!” Suzy said. “I didn’t mean to get akumatized! I just wanted an interview-“  
“It’s ok,” said Spinner. “It happens. And I’d love to give you an interview! How about this Saturday at noon?”  
Suzy gushed her thanks, took a selfie with Spinner (Spinner rolled her eyes), and continued on her way, a giddy look on her face. Spinner turned to the boys.   
“So, we’ve got a new superhero partner, it looks like?” she asked. Max started.  
“I mean, I’m not really superhero material-“ Max started.   
“No way, man, your powers are cool!” said the Artist.  
“We’d be lucky to have you on the team,” said Cloud Nine, smiling. “What’s your superhero name?”  
“My superhero name?”  
“Yeah, you’ll have to be incognito if you’re a superhero. It’s the rules,” said Spinner.   
Her hair comb beeped. A dot on her Miraculous blipped away.   
“I only have one minute!” she said.   
“What? Until what happens?” asked Max. “Until you die or something?”  
Spinner laughed.   
“No, until I change back into my civilian self. You only have five minutes after using your special power until you transform back,” she said, then paused. “I’ll tell you what, we’re patrolling the town tonight. Meet us on the roof of the school then if you want to join us. You don’t have to. But if you were chosen to wield a Miraculous, you should do something with it. Something good.”  
Spinner smiled, then ran off to detransform. Cloud Nine’s choker beeped, as did the Artist’s anklet.  
“I hope you join us,” said Cloud Nine. “You’d be a great addition to the team.”  
“Yeah, man,” said the Artist. “I hope we see you tonight!”  
The two ran off in separate directions. It was ok, though, because Max would see them tonight. He had already made up his mind. And before then, he really needed to come up with a good superhero name.


End file.
